Chapter 1017 The Beginning

A cloud of dust was rising up from Orario and those who were on the lookout immediately shouted about what they saw, "Monster rush!!! Most of them are small and medium class! Some large class in the back!"

Finn immediately appeared at the top of the temporary tower and used Magic to amplify his voice, "Archers! Once they are in range, fire the first volley! Mages, focus your attacks on the large monsters, and don't let yourself receive a Mind Down! First to fifth squad, get ready to meet the monsters after the first volley! Sixth to ninth squad, spread out and guard our flanks! Tenth to Fifteenth squad, get ready to pull out the injured and those who are unable to continue fighting and replace them!"

As Finn yelled out his first commands, the whole camp erupted into action. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about their supplies as they were continually coming in from the rear through transport vehicles, 'Nevertheless, we can't really keep this up for a long time. Sooner or later, those behind us would soon exhaust themselves to the point that they won't be able to feed themselves. And surely, those who are looking to take advantage of this situation are watching this war closely so we can't really afford to exhaust ourselves either.' Thought Finn while watching the marching army of Adventurers and Mercenaries, 'Looks like we really have to create an elite team to reach the Black Dragon and the corrupted Spirit.'

Although it was a sloppy march, it's still better than just blindly rushing in and creating a very chaotic battlefield. Since they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, they couldn't let everyone just run around and do whatever they wanted.

"Anakitty."

"Yes, captain!" The cat person behind him hurriedly answered.

"Tell the others of the elite team that we're going in before sunset."

"This early?"

"The Dungeon will continually produce monsters while our supplies can only last for so long. It's better to do it now when we still have a chance to retreat and plan for another engagement after the information we could get from the initial one."

"...Understood."

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Before the sun sets, the sounds and warcry of the battle are still going without any signs of it letting up, "As you can see, we can't last like this. Although the supplies are coming in, the fatigue will set in first and no matter how careful, we're only going to keep losing our comrades. As such, I decided that we should strike now when things haven't gotten worse."

Finn looked around at the members of the elite team that comprised various Familias that are familiar with Orario and each one of them is at least Level 7.

Aside from the executives of the Loki Familia including Line, there's Tsubaki from the Hephaestus Familia, Ottar, Allen, and Hogni from the Freya Familia, Shakti and Ilta from the Ganesha Familia, Kashima Ouka from the Takemikazuchi Familia, Tenestra from the Astarte Familia, and Asfi from the Hermes Familia and finally, Bell and Haruhime from the Miach Familia. As for the rest of their members, they were left behind to take control and lead the battlefield.

"We'll go straight through the heart of the enemy territory and even though we'll have a window to retreat, we don't know what might happen and that might close as soon as we approach it. Nevertheless, we can't let a situation like this go on forever so those who are not ready to place their lives on the line, please leave as you'll just be a big detriment to the team."

Finn looked around once again and could see the determination in their eyes. He smiled and continued, "It seems that I don't need to say any uplifting speeches to rouse everyone's fighting spirit."

"Haah? We're not newbies. Why would we need something like that? You'll only snuff out my motivation for taking so long." Bete immediately answered with a click of his tongue.

Finn chuckled, "That's true. Well then, Black Dragon Subjugation Team... Move out!"

"YES!!!" Most of them answered.

Watching all of this as if she's not part of it was Ais. After yesterday's event, Aria also disappeared citing that she couldn't keep that form for too long, "...is. Ais!"

Ais woke up from her stupor with Finn calling out to her, "Are you alright? You also have the option to remain here."

Ais shook her head, "You know I can't do that."

"Then get yourself together or you'll get yourself and others killed."

Ais swallowed a mouthful of saliva and nodded thoughtfully at his scolding, "I'm sorry. I'm going to be fine."

But just as they are about to leave, "Hold up!" Loki's voice from behind them.

They turned around and saw that aside from her, there were Freya, Hermes, Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi, Miach, and Zeus behind her.

"Loki. What's going on?"

"We're coming too."

Finn and the others were frozen in an instant before he reacted with an unbelieving face, "...Haaah!?"

"You heard me. We're coming too."

"I can't allow that. We can't even guarantee our safety much less yours. If we lose any of you, it'll be a huge blow for us that we would have no way of recovering." Finn could also see that their respective children are persuading them against this and most notably was Asfi directly scolding Hermes.

"It's going to be alright. Riveria can protect us."

Everyone stopped and looked at Loki before turning their heads to Riveria. While Ottar and Tsubaki could agree, it's not the same for everyone else who doesn't know what she could do.

"Hold on, Loki. Even though I'm assigned to watch the corrupted Spirit and won't participate in the fight with the Black Dragon, I still can't risk it." Riveria immediately reminded her. Even though she could have leeway while fighting the corrupted Spirit, she doesn't know how things would develop and that unknown could pose a great danger to the Deities.

Loki looked at her seriously and contrary to her character, she suddenly pleaded, "Riveria... Please. I have to see through this until the end."

Riveria was startled and looked at the other Deities who had the same expression. Although most of them didn't know how Riveria would protect them, they really needed to watch this until the end.

Being bombarded by those intense stares, Riveria could only sigh before raising her arm and tapping the watch on her wrist, "Anyone there?"

A few seconds later, Kisuke's voice answered, [Riveria? What's up?]

"I need a bit of assistance here."

The wristwatch stayed silent for a few more seconds before a reply returned from Kisuke, [Sera-tan will help you out. You know the Sitri Clan's crest, right? You can summon her through that.]

"Thank you."

Riveria then brought down her arm and brought up the other to construct a Magic Circle. Within just a second, Riveria managed to complete a Summoning Circle with Sitri Clan's crest in the middle of it.

"Fast!" Tenestra exclaimed, "What are those parameters? Wait... What is this system in the first place?"

Riveria didn't answer her question as the same Summoning Circle appeared on the ground in front of her. Within a few seconds, a twin-tailed bubbly beautiful girl appeared in front of her, "The Devil King Serafall Leviathan at your service~☆! I can do almost anything for an appropriate price~☆! Who or what should I destroy today?"

"I don't think I could afford you destroying anyone or anything worthwhile so I'll just request an escort and protection service."

"And the protection target and escort location?"

"The Deities that are coming with us to Orario and the entirety of their stay there until this battle is over."

"Understood☆! Let's discuss the price at a later time in private. Is that okay with you?"

Riveria nodded.

Everyone forgot that they are trying to convince their Deities to not come with them due to Serafall's sudden appearance and the subsequent strange conversation. However, they were not ready for what was going to happen next.

"Then let's get this over with~! I'm expediting the escort request." Serafall turned towards the direction where Orario was and said, "Tell them to stay out of the way, if they don't want to die."

Finn knew that she was talking to him but didn't understand what she was talking about, until a dense amount of Magic Circle suddenly descended from the sky and made it hard for everyone to even breathe, "I'm giving you fifteen seconds." Serafall turned to Finn with her shining blue eyes.

It was as if his thumb was about to explode into pieces and he didn't have to think about it any further, "Squad 2 and 3! Vacate your space! Now!!!"

The second and third squad heard his Magic Amplified voice but was confused. Nevertheless, they still followed his instruction and went left and right respectively, leaving a large hole on the front line.

But before they could receive their next instructions, a wave of blue light passed through the place they were standing just now and left a frozen path. It didn't stop and went through all the monsters, instantly freezing them before disintegrating into tiny pieces and being carried by wind. In an instant, a 10-meter wide ice path with a wall of ice on both sides and not a single monster in the way was created and directly connected to Orario a few kilometers away.

"Well then, let's go~☆!"

While everyone was speechless and terrified, Riveria could only sigh while muttering, "Can I really afford to hire a Devil King?... Well, if I can't pay it off, I'll just sell Kisuke to her."